SUMMARY OF INTELLIGENCE FROM THE SOUTH.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1803, 13 December 1862, Page 4

SUMMARY OF INTELLIGENCE FROM THE SOUTH.

The p. s. Prince Alfred arrived in harboui [ yesterday morning from Otago and Lyttelton , bringing later dates from the south, viz., Otagc \ the Bth instant, and Lyttelton 10th instant. \ There is no further intelligence of special ) impoitance, but what has ariived is confimas tory of previous statements relative to the Gold i fields*

j We make the following extracts of tbe latest items from the Daily Times The escort from the Nokomia arrived in town on Saturday afternoon, bringing down 1000 ozs. 12 dwts. of gold. The amount of gold received per last escort on the 28th inst, is rather greater in amount than previously stated — the following- being the corrected figures. ARRIVAL OF THE ESCORT. oz dwt gr 1 Dunatdu 13,005 10 0 Tuapeka ... 4,812 10 0 Waitahuna 1,242 0 0 Teviot 37 13 0 )Voolshed 827 13 20 Total 19,937 0 20 The contract for the Mail Service between Melbourne and Otago has been decided on ; its terms and conditions are as follows: — 'lhe steamer is to be ready to leave Melbourne ou the ninth, and to wait there, if necessary uutil 10 a.m on the eleventh to bring down the English mails. She is to leave Otago with the return mails on the 18th. For this service £13,000 per annum is to be paid, but theie is to be a peuulty of £100 lor each day's deten tion, and of £300 for losing the homeward mail. Although notjia portion of the contract, tbe tenderers undertake to put all their boats on to the Otago service, and consequently to run ' weekly between tbat place and Melbourne. Should the Eitgiish mails, therefore, not reach Melbourne by the morning of the lltb, they • would not be delayed many days before another , steamer would be ready to take them on. As : the Aldinga's days of sailing would be the 9th, the next steamer would leave on the lOtli. In case the Aldinga was laid up tbe Alhambra, a vessel nearly as fast, would be employed in ber stead. i The news from the more established gold fields continues to be of a satisfactory character i and the following particulars relative to dis- , coveries which we take from the report, under t date ofthe 22ud inst., of Jackson Keddeli, Esq., • the commissioner of the Dunstan field which has been placed at our disposal by the Govern- ! ment will be of interest. i . Population.— The population had received , a steady increase during the week, but numbers » had left for the scene of Fox's discovery. The . population may be estimated as follows : — i Dunstan Township, 2000 ; Jo-notion of Manu- • herikia, 1000 : working in proclaimed area, | 500; Conroy 's Gulley, 250 ; adjacent workings \ 300 ; Earnscluegh, Gold Hunter's Gulley, and others, numbered 300. Estimated numbers left Fox's discovery aud Cardroua Creek, 3000, —total 7320. | New Discoveries. — " The reported finds of rich deposits by a peison named Fox were veii- , fied on the 21st by tbe arrival of Fox and his mate John Callaghun, who deposited 236 ozs [ of gold in tbe Treasury for transmission by [ escort. They stale the place where they have , been working is about 15 miles eastward of 3 Lake Wakatip, on Rees's run. They repoited the couutry as being highly auriferous, and that ■ they obtaiued as much as tive pounds weight in > one day's work. The workings were chiefly 3 alluvial — wet diggings — depth of sinking varyi ing from 3 to 5 and 8 feet, incrcasiug according i to the distance gone into the bunks. The [ locality i» on the Arrow River — a tributary of t the Kawarau — and the route taken by horsemen is, up the west bank of the Clutha, by the foot I of the range to the Cardrona, thence, following that creek to its source, and then crossing the ranges to the Arrow. The countiy they report as being well timbered. The Daily 'limes of the Bth December says:— The total quantity of gold brought dowu b) escort since the opening of the gold fields to tbe present lime (a period of only sixteen months) is 487,821 oz. The quantiiy of Gold exported from the opening ol the Gold Fields to 3lst December, 1861, was 187,695 oz, value £727,320, The exports miring the current year have been as follows : — oz Exported duringquarterending March 31 170,770 „ „ „ June 30... 81,206 „ „ „ Sept 30... ' 45,813 Exported during month of October 39,977 toNovQ9... 66,816 395,58 a The total quantity of gold exported since the opeuing of the gold fields to 29th November, stands at 583,277 ounces. The ' Daily Times ' of the 291h November, speaking of the steamer Victory, say, — It will be seen in our telegraphic news from Port Chalmers, that all hopes of flouting the steamer Victory are at an end. This unfortunate result of the enterprise of the shareholders, and the skill of their engineer will be a subject of general regret, tbe more so, that only a short time ago, the success of the operations was considered all but certain. It will be remembered that the Victory was actually afloat, and would in all probability, bave been steaming out to sea in a few hours, when the chain cable to which she was secured snapped, and the unlucky vessel drifted again ashore, into a worse position than she was before. We now learn thai she has broken in two near the main gangway, is full of water, and is rapidly filling with sand. A later date mentions that she has been sold in her present position for £200.